Defining Life
by imaginethat96
Summary: What happens when Transformers aren't the only non humans to use Earth as a battlefield? Good & evil aren't so easily identifiable & what it means to truly be alive comes into question. DBZ in here, for my own enjoyment. Don't judge just READ! Author's skills get better every chapter (or at least I think so)
1. Revenge and Discovery

_imaginethat96's Notes_: Okay, so finally I have gotten my first FanFic chapter ever! This takes place after Revenge of the Fallen, after the series finale of Moonlight and many generations after Dragon Ball GT. In mention of those three series, _I do not own anything_, their respective owners do including hummergray who so kindly let me use her Cybertron Time – Earth Comparisons (Go check out her profile if you're not familiar with it). Please leave a review, as it would mean a lot to me. Special thanks go out to MyLittleSongBird and Pie. who beta-ed, calmed my nerves and helped make my goal of publishing on FanFic a reality.

Oh yes I almost forgot… **…** means internal communication for Cybertronians,_'…'_ means that the character is thinking to themselves, "…/…/…/…" means that Bumblebee is speaking through the radio.

Chapter 1: Revenge and Discovery

Outside the Big-Screen theater: Los Angeles, CA 00:18 PDT

From a distance, Barricade watched a boy and his friends. He reviewed the data packet that Soundwave had given him, not needing it to confirm that the second one was who he wanted: Mikaela Banes. Megatron hated Sam Witwicky with a passion; he wanted him to suffer. Barricade sharing the same hatred as his leader jumped at the chance to hurt Sam in the best way he could process, by offlining the ones the boy loved. The human known as Leo Spitz laughed at his own joke catching Barricade's attention. '_Perfect_' he thought, he could terminate the girlfriend and the friend. He decided against this quickly, calculating that more pain would be inflicted if the friend lived to die another day.

A young girl's cell phone vibrated. She reluctantly looked at the message, '_Uncle Josef, __Great! __I finally get to see this guy Logan was talking about and good old Uncle Josef is probably worrying about me like I'm a defenseless four year old!_' the teen complained to herself, rolling her eyes at the thought. She peered from the theater's rooftop watching a group of three people who were presumably only a few years older than she was. Of the group only the girl and one of the boys matched the vague descriptions of "Humans that were doing Strange Things" at the Mission City event that Logan had depicted to her. A breeze brought forth a strange scent, she breathed in heavily trying to recognize what it was to no avail. '_Smells like acid… mixed with blood? Then again, everything reminds me of blood,_' the girl reasoned with herself while tying long gold hair back to try to get a better view of where and what the scent was coming from. The scent seemed to be coming from a police car hidden in a dark alleyway, the lack of light doing nothing to impair the girl's almost flawless night vision. She could not believe what she saw, '_The pointy face sign?_' The teen mused before going into a stealth and battle ready condition, masking her energy levels and quieting her already slow heartbeat. As if on cue, the strange police car's engine revved in a manner that no earthy car could and the girl realized that it was speeding towards the spot directly below her where the people she was watching were oblivious to the peril that they were in. A single thought ran through her mind '_It's just a car -isn't it?_' and then she jumped.

Bumblebee raced to his human friends furious that he had not detected and stopped the Decepticon earlier. The yellow and black Camaro caught the cop car off guard, T-boning Barricade's alt mode at full speed. Both bots transformed, ready to fight when Sam yelled, "Bee someone's hurt!" To the Autobot's surprise, Barricade simply smiled wickedly, transformed and retreated. Bumblebee transformed back in to a sleek muscle car and opened all his doors.

Bumblebee texted Sam, "_Put the kid in my back seat. We need to get her to Ratchet NOW! Her heart is failing_"

Mikaela read the text, "Wouldn't it be faster just to take her to the hospital?"

"_Maybe,"_ Bumblebee's next text replied,_ "but human doctors cannot patch up wounds from 'Cons like Ratchet can. Besides how would we explain it?"_

"Right" Sam said while trying to calm down a distraught Leo who kept yelling "He was aiming for me! He wanted to kill me! He wanted me dead I tell you! DEAD!"

** Bumblebee to NEST HQ. Requesting immediate land bridge and Ratchet upon arrival. Human civilian severely damaged in attempt to stop assassination attempt on Sam, Mikaela and Leo from Barricade**

** NEST HQ to Bumblebee. Request accepted. Land bridge should be appearing now**

Inside N.E.S.T Headquarters: Diego Garcia, IO 11:33 IOT

Leo, Sam, and Mikaela rushed to take the body of the unconscious girl out of Bumblebee's back seat before he transformed. Ratchet scanned the child as his young human friends placed her into his giant metal hand. "She's in cardiogenic shock," were the only words Ratchet muttered before racing into med bay with Red Alert.

The three humans, concerned about the kid, waited quietly outside the bed bay doors, while Bumblebee paced anxiously. "She saved our lives didn't she?" Mikaela solemnly asked breaking the silence.

Leo nodded in agreement when Bumblebee stopped and hit his head against the wall hard. "Whoa Bee! Whatcha do that for?" Sam probed, hating to see that his guardian was so angry with himself.

Mikaela and Leo looked up sympathetically at their Autobot best friend. "I know that/ you guys just wanted / a quiet night out/, but I could not bear the thought of/ one of you getting hurt/ because I wasn't there!"

"It's okay Bee. And look! We're all safe and you probably saved that girl's life by getting her to Ratchet so fast!" Sam said trying to comfort his best friend.

Bumblebee kept his faceplate on the wall; hiding the single stream of optical fluid that slowly fell down his metal cheek. "But she's the reason that you are/ still online! / Even though I was there /if she was not/… I'm so sorry/ if I had been a better /guardian…"

"Stop it Bee! You are the _best_ guardian! If we had bothered to look up the street we would have recognized Barricade and then got out of the way, instead of being totally clueless!" Mikaela chided, before giving Bumblebee's leg a hug.

Hours later Ratchet opened the med bay's doors, finding that Bumblebee, Ironhide, Optimus Prime and the humans (now including Major Lennox) waiting for news on the girl's condition. "You may see her now," Ratchet stated, aware to what they all wanted. Bumblebee gently lifted his smaller friends up to the human sized bed on top of the huge bot sized berth. Cybertronian medical equipment surrounded a child that looked no older than seventeen. Mikaela brushed blonde hair out of the girl's eyes, hoping desperately that she wasn't dead and that somehow the motherly gesture would wake her up.

"What's wrong with her Doc?" Leo questioned forgetting that the CMO hated the human nickname.

"She has a few fractured bones and _seems to be_ in something similar to a coma," Ratchet answered, the answer not satisfying anyone in the room.

"_Seems to be_?" Optimus questioned.

"Her brain scan showed activity that was similar to that if she were merely recharging," Ratchet's utter confusion showed through in each word.

"Then what _is_ wrong with her?" Optimus continued, practically having to drag the information from his CMO's vocal processors.

"Her heart is beating too slowly. It is at a stable pace, but no human should have brain activity without enough blood pumping! She should be –as the humans' say- a vegetable. In addition, her DNA and energy signals would suggest that…" Ratchet rambled as his logic circuits were about to fry.

"She's part Saiyan" Ironhide interrupted flatly. He had spent far too many vorns dealing with that violent ape race and had recognized the Saiyan blood in her the moment he stepped into the room.

"Saiyan?" the humans chimed together, along with a puzzled look from Bumblebee.

"Wha- What the heck is a Saying?" Sam half laughed/ half blurted, taking the words right out of his fellow humans' mouths.

Ironhide sighed when he receive the nod of approval from Optimus to reveal the information. "_Saiyans_ were a warrior race that lived on the planet Vegeta in the Northern Galaxy and were once one of the few species more violent than humans are. They eradicated other planets' inhabitants and then sold it to the highest bidder. Saiyans could access something they called _ki_ – like a fleshling version of a spark- and that made the early Decepticon army want them. Before the 'Cons got the location of Vegeta, the planet was destroyed."

"You kept saying '_were_'? I thought you said that she _is_ a Saiyan?" Major Lennox pointed at unconscious child, who looked like anything _but_ a brutal warrior.

The weapons specialist rumbled, staring down the man who challenged his words, "I said that she is _part_ Saiyan. She hardly has any Saiyan DNA in her at all. Too diluted with human."

"And yet she was able to take a hit from Barricade." Ratchet argued.

Major William Lennox rubbed his temples, already getting a headache from just thinking about the massive amount of paperwork and meetings that were going to come with another alien species on Earth. He looked at the young girl as if she would wake up and give him the answers to the endless amount of question that were coming.

"Ah, how long until she's conscious?" Lennox asked, hoping that it would be fairly soon. She looked like an older version of his daughter Annabelle and couldn't help but think of what her parents must be going through.

"Considering that she is not fully human and the _limited_ amount of data on Saiyans, I _estimate _less than two week." Ratchet calculated, secretly mad that there was little to no Saiyan medical files and he would have to rely on Ironhide for a large amount of the information.

"That's pretty quick for being mowed over by a Decepticon," Leo joked when Mikaela cuffed him on the back of the head for not thinking about Bumblebee, who still thought that the whole ordeal was his fault.

Mikaela sighed and looked over at the girl not sure what to think of her, "Okay, so we know _what _she is, but _who_ is she? Like isn't someone looking for her?"

"Excellent question!" Sergeant Robert Epps exclaimed as he entered the room with the information Lennox asked for upon the girl's arrival. He began to rattle off the details as the Autobots accessed the basic data packet;

Name_: Sarah-Jane Kostan_

D.O.B_: January 8__th__, 1995_

Legal Guardians_: Josef Kostan (Father), Elizabeth Turner (Mother), Mick (Stepfather)_

Residents_: Los Angeles, California_

"Wait! Josef Kostan? Owner of Kostan Industries?" Sam cried in disbelief breaking a serious silence.

"You got it." Epps replied.

Major Lennox's head pounded at this point, and did not even notice Ratchet was scanning him. '_If we get sued somehow by this guy…_' Lennox worried. "Epps get public relations to phone the Mr. Kostan and her other guardians."

"You know that you sentenced the poor PR to going deaf in whichever ear he holds the phone too?" Epps pointed out to Lennox as they walked out of med bay together. Lennox nodded, almost at the end of his limits, "Ya, I figured that the moment the words came out of my mouth"

Inside N.E.S.T Headquarters: Diego Garcia, IO 03:11 IOT (The Next Day)

Optimus Prime lay on his gargantuan sized berth next to his recharging spark mate, Elita-1. The Prime thought how the Saiyan race once thrived and then had their home destroyed. Yet, their descendants were eventually able to carry on life on Earth. He hoped that his fellow Autobots would find the same peace on their adoptive home, when the Decepticon proximity alarm sounded.

**Red Alert report** Optimus boomed

** Sensors indicate Starscream incoming alone ETA one breem** Red Alert

** More bad news. The Saiyan is not …** Ratchet stopped. The three mechs across the base stood and listened while a young female's agitated voice rang out in the distance,

"THIS IS AN _ISLAND_?"

To be continued…


	2. More than Alien

_imaginethat96's Notes_: _Blah_ means flashback, _'…'_ means that the character is thinking to them self. Oh and just a note for this chapter, Elita-One is portrayed as her G1 self since its more fun for me to write her that way. I do not own the _Transformers_, _Dragon Ball_, _Moonlight_ and/or the _Men in Black _franchises. Do not worry, MIB is only made reference to, I am not insane enough to try a quadruple crossover. "NO IRONHIDE! I AM SANE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Sorry he's just mad that I have not written him using his cannons yet ^.^

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><p>Chapter 2: More than Alien<p>

_Last time on _Defining Life_, while in Los Angeles a mysterious girl saved Mikaela, Leo and Sam from Barricade, in an assignation attempt. Bumblebee rushes the kid back to the N.E.S.T base for medical care and the Autobots discover that she is a descendent from the Saiyan race. Moreover, the girl is the heir to the Kostan Industries. Things take a turn for the worse when early the next morning the Saiyan hybrid is MIA and Starscream is incoming._

N.E.S.T Tarmac: Diego Garcia, IO 03:19 IOT

The air was tense as the Autobots assembled. They watched the Decepticons' second in command land, transforming in front of them.

"Starscream," Optimus' regal voice bellowed.

"Oh don't mind me; I'm just here to pick up a certain fleshing. I know the Saiyan-_thing _is here, just give her to me and no-one will have to get hurt," he stated nonchalantly with a grin that was quintessentially his, "You don't want her anyway. She's just a _monster _among you _heroic_ _Autobots_."

"The wrongs of one's ancestors are not to be blamed on the decedents," Optimus challenged while sub-spaced his ion blaster.

Starscream cut short a laugh, "You think that she is_ just_ part Saiyan? How 'cute'. You spend so much time babysitting one species of this wretched planet, but never even figuring out their dirty little secrets."

"What so ever are you talking about? Human biology has been…" Perceptor blurted out, upset that Starscream was implying that he did not fulfill his scientific duties. Wheeljack kicked his leg-strut to quiet him.

Optimus took a step forward "I have no intentions to surrender the girl. You can still leave peacefully..."

The Decepticon growled, about to use his null ray when a blur of motion sped in between himself and Optimus Prime. Ironhide saw the familiar battle stance and snapped the ordered for every Autobot to shut off all light and heat sensors.

"SOLAR FLARE," the child yelled, releasing a massive amount of light that –thanks to Ironhide's quick processing- only affected Starscream, "KINTO'UN let's go!" Starscream fumbled blindly to transform and retreat.

Optimus Prime watched the girl hop on what appeared to be a golden cloud in order to make her escape. As per his orders, Trailbreaker trapped the smallest escapee in a force field, gently bringing down almost thirty feet. Once the girl realised that she could not break free, she folded her arms in front of her chest and sat down delicately on the edge of the cloud. Optimus knelt down to glowering teenager, " ," the Prime started benignly, "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Much has happened that needs explaining and I would wish to debrief you, personally and _without _restraints, if you will stay." The teen stood and nodded, quickly shooing the little cloud away, reminding him of Mojo and Sam.

While Ratchet and the human CMO check for flash blindness among the human part of the N.E.S.T team, Optimus lead the child outside. They watched the dark waves lick gently on beach, quietly reflecting on the events of the early morning.

"Thank you Ms. Kostan" Optimus said sincerely.

She waited for a moment as if thinking about her answer "You're welcome, but for what? Did the jet not escape?" the pale teen looked up curiously, sounding older than Optimus expected.

"For risking your own life to saving my friends and comrades," The large mech answered.

The girl brushed her long hair out of her face and nodded, "And don't call me that. You may call me SJ"

"Very well SJ," Optimus heavily took in air threw his intake valves, "It has come to my understanding that you are a descendent of the Saiyan race; may I ask from which's bloodline?"

SJ went back to staring at the black Indian Ocean, "Family legend said both Vegeta and Goku."

Optimus was surprised to hear sorrow in her voice. He quickly read reports from Ratchet and Major Lennox then returned to the conversation.

"Look, Mr. Prime …" he could let her how 'Prime' was not like a human surname later, "I…I have to leave. I appreciate your hospitality, but people are going to start looking for me and I… don't trust any humans to know of my... _heritage_."

The ancient mech wanted to ask so many questions, but not now. He looked up to the night sky, silently asking wisdom from the Matrix.

SJ coughed quietly to get his attention, "Optimus sir, I just want to go home." She hated when she had to act all innocent to get what she wanted, especially when this creature seemed to buy it without question.

Her hopes of an easy escape vanished as he started to say that it wasn't going to be that simple. "The Decepticons now know of your existence. I am afraid that they will not stop until they have captured you for their purposes in our war. I understand your mistrust in humans. The young scout, who brought you here, was captured by a certain group. However, we have allied ourselves with a brave group in which we share mutual respect and trust."

"If I want to leave, it's pretty simple." SJ pointed out quietly, but stubbornly. She did not dare look in his dark blue eyes and silently cursed herself for her rudeness.

She listened to air being forced threw his intake valves, matching it to a human sigh. Optimus suddenly sat facing her, shaking the ground. She in turn sat, somehow knowing what was coming. "Before time began, there was the Cube…" and the explanation that she was searching for began.

N.E.S.T Autobot Medbay: Diego Garcia, IO 04:00 IOT

From medbay, the mech watched his leader explain the history of their race to the human. His aged-optics could see that the human teenager was actually enthralled with what the large mech was saying, even though she hid it well.

"Ironhide, could you come here and look over these figures?" Ratchet called over his shoulder to the black mech passing by.

Ironhide grumbled as he walked up to the medbay's main computer. He crossed his massive arms and read over fleshling vital signs on the screen, "I read them! Happy?" Ironhide grumbled, before heading for the door.

'_Why does he have to be such a stubborn-aft?'_ Ratchet sighed as he blocked the grumpy mech from leaving, "Look, the medical files on Saiyans are practically non-excitant and the data transfers are broken. Until I am familiar with her circuitry I will need your help."

The old weapon specialist in-turn exhaled noisily, "Fine. For a Saiyan that is _not_ normal. She should have a higher core temperature and …well… the rest of these make her seem that she does not have long to live." Ironhide confirmed what Ratchet had suspected.

Both mechs looked out the medbay window to see Optimus walking a very alive fleshing inside. "What do you think Starscream meant when he said that she more than a Human-Saiyan hybrid?" Ratchet asked after receiving a comm. from Prime informing him that SJ was tired and requested to recharge.

"Well I couldn't tell you…" Ironhide quietly growled when a man in a suit interrupted him.

"But I could." Major Lennox resisted the urge roll his eyes at the man beside him who spoke. The situation had become far too serious for such childish actions, but he could not believe how much this stiff looked and acted as if he had walked out of a '_Men in Black_' movie, "Ironhide, Ratchet, this is Richard Garrison, head of Division Zero."

N.E.S.T Office of Optimus Prime: Diego Garcia, IO 04:24 IOT

After he led SJ to the human sleeping quarters, Optimus entered his office having half of an Earth hour of privacy before a meeting with another human organization. He recalibrated his sensors for the third time that morning only to get the same diagnostic "All sensors functionality: 100%" Every time he had scanned the teenager, the readings came out to be the exact same as when she was in her coma-like state. There was a knock at his door, "Come in," Optimus called and the door slip open. He was glad to see the black and gold mech. "Good morning Prime," Prowl said while handing him an energon cube. Optimus took it graciously, taking a rather large sip before setting it down on his desk. "Morning Prowl," Optimus replied, hiding his need for recharge well. The sides of Prowl's mouth curled up politely as he was going to ask his Prime about the Saiyan royal visiting their base, when the office door opened heavily.

"Primus, Optimus! Do you ever come to berth?" Elita-1 chided playfully, yet with a hint of annoyance.

Prowl nodded respectfully, "Good morning Elita."

"Good morning Prowl," the pink femme smiled kindly before turning back frowning, to her over-worked mate. It seemed like she had to force the big oaf to take time off to simply recharge. He always carried everyone's problems with his big, strong, shining armoured arms… No, she could not daydream about her handsome mech now. She had woken for this meeting as Elita-1, leader of the female Autobots, not Elita-1, Optimus Prime's –as the humans say- 'lovesick' mate.

Elita could feel Optimus apologising over their connection that had lasted throughout the millions of years that they had been together and apart. She sent him back a short look to show that she understood, before starting to speak, "What is the situation with the child?"

"She has desynchronosis and is resting in the humans' guest quarters," Prowl inputted

Elita nodded, "Very well, but why are we having this meeting? Everyone was debriefed thirty Earth minutes ago." The fem-commander had only arrived on Earth a week ago, suffering from energon deprivation and barely alive. Ratchet had sentenced her to berth rest for a week and recharging and refuelling were the only actions she took part in, with Optimus coming in and treating her like a sick sparkling when he could. Okay so maybe berth rest was not completely bad, but _getting better_ according to her mate meant her doing absolutely nothing. Getting fully up to date with their new adoptive home would take time especially when Optimus worries about her as he does. _'Last time I ever leave Overprotectimus Prime,'_ Elita though jokingly before realizing that she would do everything in her power to make it true.

N.E.S.T Office of Optimus Prime: Diego Garcia, IO 05:00 IOT

Richard Garrison straightened his tie as he walked in to the alien Commander's office. Four of the robotic species and one human stood by a tall structure with stairs that was used to bring humans up to their height. He climbed up twenty-six feet before he reached the railed platform and putting down his brief case. He thought of how any other human would be nervous to stand before such an advanced species, let alone their leader, but how terrifying could aliens be when dealing with monsters was his job? "Good morning, I'm Richard Garrison. The President has sent me to inform you of Division Zero," Garrison said as he put on his glasses, "The President also wanted me to inform you that this information does not directly pertain to the Autobots and is provided out of curtsy." The shorter black robot looked to the tall red and blue one with annoyance. The tall one, that he presumed was Optimus Prime, did not say a word but gave him a look to carry on. "Division Zero is an organization that deals with one particular species on Earth. The child you are harboring happens to be one and we _will_ be taking her with us for the safety for your human N.E.S.T counterpart." The shorter gold and black alien calmly asked "We?", but Garrison did not notice. He did notice Optimus Prime coming up face to face with him, "Taking the child would be a _bad_ move," his deep authoritative voice briefly making Richard forget that anyone else in the universe existed at all. He cleared his throat nervously while Optimus backed away slowly, "I'm sorry I should have started with this. Sarah-Jane Kostan, if that is her real name, is a vampire."

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><p>SJ stood beside the doorway; her back plastered against the wall. "No", she whispered in disbelief. She was too late.<p>

To be continued…


	3. Timing not Fate

_imaginethat96's Notes_: HOOAH! I am excited about this chapter so make sure you tell me what you think of it! Just a hint in the form of a quote from Dr. House (which I do not own and for the Pit's sake am only mentioning this once!) "Everybody lies" and another reminder (not that you have probably even considered it) that I do not own Transformers, Dragon Ball Z and/or Moonlight, their respective owners do.

Chapter 3: Timing not Fate

_Last time on_ Defining Life_**, **__Starscream attacks N.E.S.T HQ only to be beaten by SJ. Meanwhile the Saiyan-hybrid's medical anomalies not only raise interests among the Autobots, but from the president of the United States of America along with a secret organization known as _Division Zero_. During a meeting with the Autobots, Division Zero demands for the girl to put under their care, claiming that she is a vampire._

N.E.S.T Residential Area: Diego Garcia, IO 0420 IOT

SJ thanked Optimus Prime before entering the guest room. It was a decent size with a double bed, desk and bathroom, but the sterility made it seem much larger. She sat on the end of the bed, her head in her hands, waiting until the sound of giant footsteps faded away. _'What did I get myself into?'_ she mused while rubbing her temples then looked up, distracting herself by checking for cameras. When she failed to find any, she continued to search the room for anything that might be useful. A landline phone, a change of clothes with a note and an assortment of toiletries were all she could find. She read the note before putting on the yellow t-shirt, "_It's a lot hotter here than it is in L.A. I hope they fit you –M_." SJ took a pen from the desk and scribbled on the other side of the note before placing it and the pair of unfitting shorts back on the desk. "Time to get out of here," she muttered as she headed towards the door, but stopped before her fingers reached the handle. It dawned on her. She was on _an island_ and not just any island, but a _military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean_. She couldn't just waltz out the front door, and even if she managed to get outside and onto Nimbus, equatorial Sun would just about kill her. SJ had to talk to Optimus again. He seemed reasonable, but if he did not let her go… that was not an option. Remembering the equator, she turned around, went into the bathroom and pulled out a small bottle of Wheeljack Inc. Sunscreen. '_Hm, SPF 150! Stronger stuff than what Mick has,' _she smirked to herself at the thought and rubbing it onto her exposed skin. Finally, she was ready to see the alien leader. The door shut behind her with a small rattle causing her to turn. There was a red lanyard with stern faces attached to a visitor's pass around the handle. SJ sighed inwardly, '_If I didn't know any better I'd think that this could end well.' _

The huge hallways were quiet and only a few soldiers on the night shift were seen on the high deck that wrapped around the walls. SJ relaxed, knowing that they would not notice her. In good time, she came into an opening the size of an airplane hangar, two more hallways on the left and right extended on an angle into more base from the back wall. On that stretch of wall, a larger deck looked out an enormous bay window on to the water.

"Greetings!" A cheery robotic voice greeted, coming out from behind the stairs that lead up to the platform.

SJ watched as the tools in his hands vanished. He had colour changing horns that came out of the sides of his head and a strip of curved metal that covered his mouth.

After a small smile and wave from the girl, the Autobot again began to talk, "Eh! You are that hybrid kid right? That light show you put on was very similar to an EMP! It blew out the ground bridge! I did not know fleshies could do that!" The mech beamed with enthusiasm.

"Sorry," SJ replied absently.

"It's fine, it gives me something to tinker with," his horns turned an embarrassed coral pink, "since I'm not allowed in my lab after dark."

She cocked her head slightly to the side. It was almost endearing how his sidebars changed colour with his emotions. SJ looked down to conceal a light smile. If it was not so dire that she leaves right away maybe, she could have afforded a chat with the Autobot. She was broken out of her dreaming when the mech started talking again.

"It's night. What are you doing up?" He said, finally catching on to the oddness of their meeting.

"I am going to see Optimus Prime. He has not retired for the night, has he?" SJ hoped that he would simply answer _no_ and then let her go on her way.

He thought for a moment then shook his head, "No, he has a meeting, but you might be able to catch him before it starts. _Humans are always late_," He froze while his sidebars flashed white, "I am so sorry I did not mean to offend you!"

SJ smiled innocently, "Trust me, you didn't at all."

His horns turned a cheery yellow, "If you want I can take you to my leader…"

"No! That is not necessary," she jumped and quickly recovered, "But could you point me in the right direction…"

"Wheeljack," the Autobot said with light blue horns. He pointed to the hallway to the left of him, and then got back to his work.

SJ sighed to herself as she started to move, '_Good job! Way to hurt the giant advanced alien robot's feeling!' _Before rounding the corner, she turned and faced him, "Wheeljack? Thank you," she said with a polite smile. He nodded, his sidebars turning to content vermillion.

"Wait! I didn't catch your personal designation… er name," Wheeljack called out as SJ rounded the corner. '_For being the most advance species on this planet, humans have the worst hearing,'_ he thought before re-immersing himself in his work.

"Sarah-Jehanne," the girl whispered soberly. Only a hand-full of people knew her real name, a name that frankly she liked. Even though it was foolishly close to her alias, the lives lived under each name bore their own demons, that would surely kill her in the process if the ever met. The longer she stayed the more risk, but it was too complicated now for her to just disappear. SJ needed Optimus Prime's help or else things were going to get a lot more complicated.

The part of base SJ now entered was different from the rest. It did not have the structures on the walls that allowed smaller beings to move around without being stepped on. This made the hallway seem very wide and as alien as those who needed the great size. The towering doors looked cold and uninviting. However, the lack markings on the doors would not impede her search, as she could literally smell what Optimus called _energon_. Any of the N.E.S.T soldiers would have been proud to have such a sense, but not her. She thought of how her grandfather would have ridiculed her for not being able to find them with an energy search. She closed her eyes and shook her head to get rid of the thought, refusing any thoughts of the past. That is when she recognized it. Not only was there energon close by, but there was blood. Humans were near and judging from the amount of cortisol in the air, whatever was going on was getting tense. SJ tried to listen to what they were talking about, but the walls were impossibly thick. After cursing under her breath, she calmed herself, '_I can still make it there before anything is said.'_ The muffled voices grew clearer and louder as she approached.

"We?" a robotic voiced asked, but it was not Optimus'. _'How many Autobots are in there?'_ SJ asked in turn to herself, not liking the way things were unraveling,

'_Wait! Is that Optimus' voice?'_

"… the child…"

'_Dammit, they're talking about me,'_ On this rare occasion, she allowed herself an ounce of panic. SJ ran for the closed door. The unimaginable was happening just at the end of the hallway.

"…vampire," the man said a fraction of a second before SJ made it to the last door in the corridor.

N.E.S.T Office of Optimus Prime: Diego Garcia, IO 0500 IOT

The room was silent and all Ironhide could do was stare at the man. _'Glitch of a human,' _he thought. He turned his gaze to Optimus seeing that, as always, he had kept his composure. Elita-1 on the other servo had a look of confusion as she obviously searched the _World Wide Web_. Prowl however, looked a strange version of shocked. Out of all the Autobots, Optimus and Prowl had taken the most time to understand the strangeness of Earth's culture and languages (as the Autobots struggled with sarcasm and the like). Yet even the the ninja-bot could not decode the sanity of the human who patiently waited for a response. Ironhide thought about stepping in and saying something until he remembered that the silence better than the chattering of the fleshling. To his disappointment, Optimus would not let the silence live.

"Mr. Garrison do you mean to tell me that the child who goes by the name Sarah-Jane Kostan is a supposed ghost or reanimated corpse that sucks the blood of a sleeping person?" Optimus questioned stone-faced.

The man smiled slightly, "It's something along those lines, yes." The smile seemed non-threatening and genuine, but it did nothing to reassure the present Autobots. Garrison's face then turned serious, "The bottom line is that _it_ is our predator and is a threat to all the humans on base."

A glare took over everyone's face. "_It_" had become the most derogatory term for a being on base. They all had heard that word used by hostile humans too many times. Most of the time the two-letter word came from Theodore Galloway's mouth. How he still had his job, no one knew especially since none of the Autobots took well to hearing _that _word as a pronoun for a sentient being.

*Click*

"Optimus…" Ironhide growled,

Elita interrupted and continued the weapons specialist thought, "The humans, they surround us with weapons." In her little time on Earth, she had not yet logically processed the primitive organic life forms. She wanted to believe that they had a simple but deep wisdom in all of their 'souls', but actions like this pointed to simple insanity.

"You have three seconds to explain Garrison," Lennox threatened without losing his cool.

The massive door opened showing an impressive number of soldiers in a uniform unlike any usually seen on the N.E.S.T's base. They created a large circle just to the left of the Prime's office, sniper-like guns out and trained on a single spot in the middle of the enclose they had made with their bodies. Richard Garrison had made quick work getting down the stairs to admire his loyal soldiers and what they had caught. "It appears we have a spy," the Division Zero top agent darkly chuckled addressing all whom were present. He looked at the thing in the centre of the ring as an animal, a monster that had been trapped. Optimus mentally shuttered in seeing the way the man looked at the childhe had known as SJ. She stood with her eyes glued forward and fingers interlocked behind her head. Although in size she still looked as young as she did when he had seen her less than an hour ago, her eyes betrayed a deeper maturity. Her newly shown focus and calmness was not that of a child. The hardened look she wore shared only a vague familiarity with girl that had entered the base.

With red laser targeting dots decorating her body, there was not much the kid could do, or so Lennox thought. A sudden burst of impressive, skill and power brought a Division Zero soldier disarmed, kneeling and restrained in front of Saiyan descendent. To the N.E.S.T Major, Garrison's case for her being a vampire started to seem more plausible in her act of acquiring a hostage.

She had not spoken. The humans would see it as defiance, but the Autobots she worried, would really see that she was not making up her mind. A distraction was necessary to escape without having to do anything serious and somehow, staying in the aliens' good books was a major decision-making factor. Using a single hand, she grabbed the jaw of the man with just enough force so that he could not move. As she started to speak her grasp tightened in a display of dominance, "Now…"

The present Autobots were surprised to see her wince and even more so when she collapsed moments later.

Garrison returned his gun to the holster on the inside of his jacket as Lennox grabbed him by the lapel. "You just _shot_ _a child_," he said though grit teeth. Prowl had already picked up the limp girl gently in his palms. "She is not dead Major Lennox, only tranquilized," he stated.

Master Sergeant Epps approached seeing the tenseness of his old friend, "We got these guys disarmed. What do you want to do with him?"

Lennox looked at Optimus Prime to receive a nod steadying him, "The rest of them in the cell blocks, but _he_ is to be escorted and confined to his guest quarters."

In perfect timing, Garrison entered the scene and retorted in his banana pajamas, "Ah! Not on my watch!"

_To be continued…_


End file.
